Mac Cana

Mag Annaidh; 'son of Annadh'; is the fullest and most correct form of the surname which is usually written Mac Anna or Mac Canna.[2] Some sources claim the name translates to "son of Cana". Cana being a personal name meaning 'wolf cub', and one of the tribes earliest descendants.[3] According to Irish tradition they are a Milesian people descended from Breasail, a grandson of Colla-da-Chrioch, the first king of Airgialla.

A vassal sept of the Ui Neill, the tribe originally inhabited the lands of Clancann, and also became Lords of Clanbrasil after they dispossessed the O'Garvey's of their land around the time of Richard de Clare's Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.[4] Their territory lay to the south of Lough Neagh in modern-day County Armagh and County Tyrone, flanked by the River Bann and River Blackwater. They were a branch of the Cenel Eoghain, the large group of Northern Uí Néill septs claiming descent from King Eógan mac Néill, the son of the High King Niall of the Nine Hostages.

The first written record of the family name is shown to be that of Amhlaoibh Mac Cana, Lord of Clanbrasil and is mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters during the reign of Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair. He was praised for his chivalry, his vigour, and his strong drink he made from apples in his orchard. The clan are also stated as having had a castle at Portadown in County Armagh.

From Ireland, a branch of the family moved to France in the 11th century with the surname Maccan, around the same time as the Norman invasion of Ireland.

In the reign of Philip IV of France, of the Capet dynasty. The Maccan Family, who for some time had held important positions within the court such as Vicars, General leaders, Generals of the Royal army and Administrators of Justice in the name of The King; were assigned the Marquis title. Then in the first half of the 14th century, we’re granted the title of Counts and Dukes of Guelders (de Gueldre) by the Wassenbergs, through marriage and testamentary bequest.[5]

Over the years, a branch of the family migrated from France to Italy. In this period, the family was also known as Maccani (Italianization of the surname). They also changed the original family coat of arms, becoming a talking coat of arms, the new crest had a symbol of a dog, which then became two dogs facing each other, in fact ‘Can’ and ‘Cani’ translates to ‘dog’ and ‘dogs’ in Italian. In the first half of the 17th century, from Nobles of Trento they became Counts of Tres by concession of [[Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria and subsequently Marquis. There is evidence of the existence of some members of the Maccan family; Armigers, Vicars, General administrators of local noble goods, judges, lawyers and notaries; in the 14th century.[6] Although was assumed that they carried out these duties before, the first document attesting the presence of a Maccan (Maccani) as Vicar General is dated in the 1600s, with Luca Maccan von Clers (Vicar general of Prince Bishop Carlo Emanuele Madruzzo and of the Diocese of Trentino), while as a notary is from 1652 with Giovanni Maccan von Tres (Ioannes Maccanus de Tresio utraque auctoritate notarius ).

The year following the Flight of the Earls when James I of England began the Plantation of Ulster in 1608, most of O'Neill's supporters were dispossessed of their homelands. This would seem to include the Mac Cana clan (later anglicized to McCann) and in 1610 as part of the plans of the plantation, the lands of Portadown were granted to English Protestant settlers.

William Powell of Castlespark, Staffordshire, received the great proportion of Ballyworran, which spanned the southern extremities of Clanbrassil and Clancann.

John Brownlowe from Nottingham received the middle proportion of Doughcorron, which corresponded to the northern part of the ancient district of Clanbrassil.

John Heron received the small proportions of Aghivillan and Broughes, which both formed one manor. (Aghivillan lay in Clancann, whilst the majority of Broughes also lies in Clancann, with the rest in Oneilland).

William Stanhowe of Norwich, Norfolk, received the middle proportion of Kannagolah which spanned nearly the whole length of the ancient Irish district of Clancann from north to south, and included the possible last residence of the districts McCann chiefs.

Tyrone’s Rebellion

During the chieftainship of Donall MaCanna; the clans along with an alliance of other clans supported the uprising of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and fought the Nine Years' War against the Tudor Conquest of Ireland. O'Neill succeeded for 9 years, but he was finally defeated at the Battle of Kinsale in 1602 and fled to Spain during the Flight of the Earls in 1607.

The Irish rebellion of 1641

Following displacement after the Plantation of Ulster, the Mac Cana were active in the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and fought alongside their chieftain Felim O'Neill of Kinard and the Irish Confederates through the Irish Confederate Wars (also called the Eleven Years' War) during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They first captured the fort of Charlemont, which led to massacres of many Scottish and English Protestant settlers by the Gaelic Catholic soldiers, many who had been displaced during the Plantation of Ulster. In November 1641 in particular, an army led by Toole McCann, a notorious rebel, captured the settlement of Portadown, the ancestral lands of the Mac Cana clan which led to the Portadown Massacre, the biggest individual massacre of Protestants throughout the whole of the uprising. Following success in Ulster, the Irish Confederates then marched on Dublin, gaining a victory in the Battle of Julianstown but taking a loss at the Siege of Drogheda.

Cromwellian Era

After the Siege of Drogheda, Cromwell ordered most of the Irish military prisoners who surrendered to be shipped to Barbados and other British colonies to work as indentured servants. During the following decade the Irish Catholic Federation was formed. The Ulster Army spent the next six years fighting the Scottish Covenanter Army that had landed in Ulster and fought in the army's victory at the Battle of Benburb in 1646. Following defeat at the Battle of Scarrifholis by the New Model Army, Felim O'Neill was eventually captured and executed in 1653 by British Parliamentary forces during the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland, and his remaining supporters were imposed with penalties including death, transportation, indentured servitude and land confiscation.

Following Displacement

Under the Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 and after Cromwell's order to send the Irish “To hell or to Connaught” , the remaining leaders of the Irish Confederate army lost two-thirds of their estates. The Commissioners in Ireland had power to grant them other poorer lands in Connaught or Clare in proportion of value and were authorised "to transplant such persons from the respective places of their usual habitation or residence, into other such places within that nation, as shall be judge most consistent with public safety." This would seem to be the McGann sept of the name, which is known to be an anglicised Connaught variant of 'Mac Cana' and a name commonly found in Roscommon.[7]

Due to anglicization and migration the original name now holds various forms such as McCann, McGann, MacCana, MacCann, MagAnnaidh, MacGann and became Canny and Canney upon Ulster migration to the south (Leinster and Munster). The name also took form as Maccan upon European migration in the 11th century and separated into many European noble and royal families, such as the Maccan of Villanova, Maccan de Gueldre and the Maccani). The title of Lord of Clanbrasil is still held by the family of McCann in the area of County Louth.[8]

The Mac Cana line features in John O'Hart's 19th century pseudo-historical book, Irish pedigrees. In this book, the Mac Cana line along with other surname lines are taken right back to Adam and Eve.